SpaceX standing down for today’s IFA test launch due to sustained winds and rough seas in recovery area. Window reopens tomorrow 1/19/2020 for a six-hour window starting at 8am.
https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1218473546772430848?s=21

Submitted January 18, 2020 at 11:13AM by tbcheese
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NASA says early March dm2 possible
https://ift.tt/374ndIR

Submitted January 18, 2020 at 12:21PM by deadman1204
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Here's why Falcon 9/Heavy 2nd stage is an engineering marvel.
First where did this rant comes from? The trigger is this tweet from someone who has no idea how rocket equation works: https://twitter.com/LCS_Big_Mike/status/1217990754771095561This was also briefly discussed on SpaceXMasterrace here It looks to me that there's a misconception that Falcon 2nd stage is "bad", but is it? A straight forward comparison would tell you otherwise:F9/H 2nd Stage (S2)Centuar III (used on Atlas V)Stage Empty Mass (t)~52Stage Propellant Mass (t)~11120.8Stage Total Mass (t)~11622.8Isp (s)348450Delta-V without payload (m/s)1072210732Delta-V with 1t payload (m/s)101309133Delta-V with 5t payload (m/s)85026081Delta-V with 10t payload (m/s)72584434(Disclaimer: SpaceX doesn't disclose the exact 2nd stage empty or propellant mass, so the numbers here is an estimate, but I think it's a conservative estimate. Source is spacelaunchreport.com: Falcon 9, Atlas V) As you can see, while empty the F9 S2 has basically the same delta-v as the Centuar upper stage on Atlas V, once you start to add payload, the delta-v provided by F9 S2 quickly surpassed Centuar.This is very remarkable since Centuar is using RL10, a hydrolox engine which has much higher Isp than F9 S2's Merlin Vacuum engine, and Centuar uses a pressure stabilized propellant tank which is very mass efficient (but couldn't support itself without pressurization).So how did SpaceX do this? The general answer is that F9 S2 is simply more mass efficient, as measured by Propellant mass fraction (PMF), which is the ratio between the propellant mass and the initial mass of the vehicle. In rocket equation, PMF has the same importance as Isp, but rookies usually focused on Isp and ignores PMF, which is a big mistake.F9 S2's PMF is 95.7% while Centuar's PMF is 91.2%, this is a huge difference when it comes to rocket equation. This means given the same metric ton of vehicle structure, F9 S2 can take a lot more propellant, and thus provide more delta-v. A simple division would show for each metric ton of vehicle structure, F9 S2 can take 22 metric tons of propellant, while Centuar can only take 10.4 metric tons of propellant.The exact method SpaceX used to achieve this remarkable PMF is not spelled out, it's their secret sauce after all, but my guess is it's a combination of:Merlin's superior Thrust-to-weight ratio (TWR)Semi pressure stabilized propellant tank (can support its own weight when unpressurized but need pressure to handle flight load)Sub-cooled propellantCooled Helium storage using COPV inside LOX tank This mass efficient 2nd stage is what's allowing SpaceX to put 5 to 6 metric tons to Geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) using a two stage all kerolox launch vehicle, no other launch vehicle in human history can do this. So next time someone mentions F9 S2 is trash or bad, explain PMF to them and see them squirm.

Submitted January 18, 2020 at 06:17PM by spacerfirstclass
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Starman is at its farthest point from Earth in its orbit.
Today is the farthest that a Tesla has ever been from the earth, till 2022 at least. It's current location is 217,118,543 miles (349,418,532 km, 2.336 AU, 19.43 light minutes) away, on an orbit around the sun that extends beyond the orbit of Mars. https://www.whereisroadster.com/

Submitted January 17, 2020 at 07:59PM by Zero_Waist
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The new trajectory to Mars. The Low-Energy-Transfer. This is exactly the right terrain for SpaceX ...isn't it?
Is SpaceX also discussing the possibility of a new shorter route to Mars?In 2014 Francesco Toputto and Edward Belbruno construct a new type of transfer from the Earth to Mars, which ends in ballistic capture. (https://arxiv.org/abs/1410.8856) It is called the Low-Energy-Transfer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-energy_transfer)Their work caused quite a stir. It would be the alternative to the Hohmann transfer. The short time window, the extreme deceleration manoeuvre, the high propellant velocities... all this would be obsolete after the route Toputto and Belbruno have calculated.The flight duration would be only slightly longer and above all a regular shuttle service to Mars could be established.It would be interesting if flight tests would be started at least once. So far I could not find any further public reports about this. Neither from NASA, ESA nor from SpaceX. The new trajectory was already described in 2014. This is exactly the right terrain for SpaceX ...isn't it?

Submitted January 18, 2020 at 09:57PM by nochnDing
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New T-0 of 10:00 a.m. EST to optimize for decreasing winds in the recovery area
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1218865768428974081?s=19

Submitted January 19, 2020 at 01:09PM by UrbanArcologist
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SpaceX on Twitter: "Now targeting 10:30 a.m. EST; teams are continuing to track weather in the recovery area"
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1218898186162466818?s=19

Submitted January 19, 2020 at 03:09PM by OhBuggery
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Dragon has separated from Falcon 9 and its SuperDraco engines have completed their burn https://t.co/tDhogz1qQ9
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1218919149079908353

Dragon’s trunk has deployed https://t.co/bxRPYGpJTx
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1218919423215464448

Dragon's drogue chutes deployed nominally https://t.co/vdzIjDmTO7
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1218919969628360705

Dragon's main parachutes have been deployed https://t.co/SMLK62YXPP
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1218920244468539397

ABORT! Through a tiny hole in the clouds, I managed to catch the abort and subsequent explosion! RIP B1046.
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Submitted January 19, 2020 at 05:09PM by Space_Coast_Steve
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SpaceX In-Flight Abort test Highlights
SpaceX has successfully carried out a test of the Crew Dragon Launch Escape system and is now one step closer to launching astronauts to the International Space Station this year

@EverythingScience